Game developers are not glamorous – unless you’re Leslie Benzies
For the hundred code junkies in flared blue jeans and oversized glasses, Benzies is behind the wheel of a supercar in aviators, dark shirt unruffled, hair slicked back. Born in Aberdeen in 1971, Benzies has spent most of his working life at Rockstar North, helping make Grand Theft Auto the hottest property in the entertainment industry and lending his expertise to various other innovative titles.
Then, earlier this month, he called it quits.
Benzies is the original rockstar. Sam and Dan Houser might have founded the company that bears the name, but Benzies is the embodiment of what that company stands for: rebellion. Rockstar North has always been anti-establishment, from the portrayal of its glorious anti-heroes right down to its shameless depiction of sex and violence. Grand Theft Auto games are unafraid to rub your nose in the dirt and grime of modern society; nay, they revel in the seedy underbelly of corporate Americana, a bloated machine fed by greed.
It could have been so different for Leslie. In 1996, he started working on Space Station Silicon Valley at a little-known company called DMA Design. Unhappy with upper management, Benzies was ready to leave, until the company changed its name to Rockstar and gave him the golden ticket: a chance to take charge of Grand Theft Auto III. The man from Aberdeen stayed put and oversaw the start of a dynasty.
Grand Theft Auto III was a turning point in the company’s
trajectory. It sparked the beginning of the series in full 3D and rewrote what was possible on consoles and PC. Two spinoff sequels followed — Vice City and San Andreas — which utilised the original blueprint but spliced the DNA with a proper story and memorable characters. Rockstar’s blueprint for success had been defined, and Benzies was
managing all the pieces.
In the years that followed, Leslie Benzies presided over some of the best games we’ve ever played. He helped create a searing rendition of the Old West in Red Dead Redemption, resuscitated Max Payne from mortal coil and helped Grand Theft Auto to even greater heights with the release of IV and V, two genre-defining games that will be copied for the next decade… or until number VI comes along.
Perhaps his greatest achievement was helping usher LA Noire to completion. Millions over budget and with a team at their wits’ end, Benzies helped right the ship, steering the ambitious game to calmer waters. Upon its eventual release in 2011, LA Noire won high praise for its exhaustive depiction of 1940s Los Angeles and the policemen patrolling the City of Angels.
The Leslie Benzies CV boggles the mind. Famously media averse, his unwillingness to talk has only added to his mystique, and yet despite his reluctance to the face the cameras, his reputation in the industry is assured. This is a man that was named WIRED’s Game Developer of the Year in 2003, received a BAFTA for his efforts in 2005 and, in 2014, was awarded a BAFTA fellowship alongside the Houser brothers, joining a select group of game developers to receive the award, including Gabe Newell and Will Wright.
The Leslie Benzies CV is also illustrative of something else: change. Like all great managers, Benzies has wrung the most out of his team and directed the company towards a new frontier. The Rockstar that he leaves behind is not only producing technically better games, but has also come to understand its unique position within society as a storyteller. Thanks to the vision of the Houser brothers and Benzies, Rockstar games cut through the sycophancy of modern life.
Videogaming is still in its infancy, but Leslie Benzies has produced enough games to last an entire lifetime. It’s fitting, then, that at only 41, this talented Scotsman has decided enough is enough. Perhaps he’ll return to the industry one day, but if not, let’s salute the man that helped turn Rockstar into the biggest entertainment producer on the planet.
“Until we’ve simulated the world outside, we’re not going to stop.” Leslie Benzies, 2008.
